How To Choose A School For Entrepreneurship
Business Week:
B-school offerings in entrepreneurship are proliferating. Keep in mind the following factors when deciding which program is best for you:
Does the program have institutional support? A great entrepreneurship program should have the backing of the university, from the president down. That ensures funding – important for still-developing programs – and facilitates interactions among the B-school and other parts of the university, such as the engineering school or the medical school.
Who teaches the classes? You’ll want to be taught by faculty members who have experience both doing and teaching entrepreneurship. Academics with no street experience won’t be able to impart important real-world lessons. Also, remember that grizzled business vets may tell great stories, but that anecdotal evidence only goes so far. You should also look for depth and breadth in coursework.
Does the school have a dedicated entrepreneurship center? If so, chances are you’ll have more resources and staff members to assist you in both course selection and career development. These centers often fill the void left by traditional career-services offices, which may or may not be able to help place MBAs who want to be entrepreneurs.
Does the B-school have a business plan competition? Critics of such contests say the only thing they teach is how to win business plan competitions. That’s probably too harsh. Writing a plan is a valuable exercise for budding entrepreneurs. Plus, participating in – and especially winning – a competition gets you exposure to venture capitalists, who often serve as judges.
What hands-on experience will you get? The best B-schools offer some combination of the following: opportunities to intern at local startup companies, ways to connect students with entrepreneur mentors, small business incubators, access to capital from alumni or from the venture-capital community.
Where do you go with an entrepreneurship concentration?
‘Day in the Life’ features from MBAs who started their own businesses, plus career and recruiter interviews.
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